


A Flaw in the Heart

by TheFallenHuman



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Ship, UT Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 17:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17145779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFallenHuman/pseuds/TheFallenHuman
Summary: Not everything works out for the Royal Guard and the Royal Scientist. Sometimes, they just have bad days. And realize that they have flaws, too.





	A Flaw in the Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lou/gifts).



> Here’s my submission for the Undertale Secret Santa! I hope my recipient and anyone else viewing this enjoys it! 😁

 

It was a late night in Hotland. The lava not only provides a never-ending source of natural light, but it keeps this underground cavern extremely warm. That is, for most monsters. Some monsters- reptilians, metallic creatures, or just maybe a skeleton- could handle the heat easily. Fish, however, couldn’t stand the heat, and every time Undyne made her way to the Royal Scientist’s lab, she found herself plopping onto the couch in the middle of the room. It didn’t matter though, Undyne would do whatever she could to spent time with her.

 

They were both sitting on the couch that night as they watched an intense action anime. It was Undyne’s suggestion. Alphys was more into animes with magical kingdoms, or intellectual but seductive guys, or science fiction- really just anything that fits into her fantasy. It usually takes the girls forever to pick a movie, but luckily for Undyne, Alphys was looking for a change of pace.

 

“Ugh! Isn’t this so cool?! Look at the way he wields that sword! He could kill a whole army with his just his sword and FISTS!!” Undyne screamed out loud with both her fists raised in the air.

 

“Yeah… I guess. But his sidekick is soooo much better. She plans all the strategic moves! She’s the brain behind the whole operation! Without her, they wouldn’t have any clue on what to do,” Alphys folded her arms.

 

“Eh, they’re both good,” Undyne smiled warmly. She looked back at the clock behind them. “Dammit. It's getting late. I’m totally not gonna be ready for morning training.”

 

Alphys was too focused on the movie to hear what Undyne had said. Undyne noticed that herself and decided to shift her attention back to it as she put her arm around the nerd. Alphys comfortably leaned back into her, still glued to the TV screen. There was popcorn still left in the bowl, and Undyne ate the rest of it, grinning happily every time she looked at Alphys. A perfect night.

 

The movie ended just as expected. Everyone except the hero died- even the sidekick, who had been the first victim of a spy. Alphys mentioned her distaste right when the credits rolled.

 

It was 1 o’clock. “Shoot.” Undyne woke up Alphys, who was already nodding to sleep. “Hey Al, is it okay if I stay here tonight? It’s pretty late and you know it takes forever for me to get back home.”

  


Alphys blinked a few times and nodded slowly. “Sure. There’s another couch upstairs.”

 

“Thanks. You’re the best. Night Al.” Undyne leaned in and kissed Alphys on the forehead, who was already laying down.

 

“Good night.”

 

* * *

 

It was the next morning, and Undyne woke up early enough to get ready for her training. She was pretty groggy, but she still went downstairs towards a small kitchen against the wall to get some breakfast. Surprisingly, Alphys was up this early too. Undyne saw her gather many supplies- papers, random gadgets, and some of her projects- into a box.

 

 “Yo! I didn’t expect to see you up this early! Whatcha doing?”

 

Alphys was startled by Undyne’s loud voice and turned around anxiously. “Oh! I-I-I’ve got a… presentation today. Normal routine for the Royal Scientist I guess. I have to pr-present all my progress from the past few weeks. And I’m, p-pretty nervous to be honest…”

 

“Nervous? What do you have to be nervous about? You’re a great scientist. They’ve got to love what you’ve done.”

 

“Well… the- the thing is, I haven’t done much at all. No REAL progress, at least. See these papers? They’re just filled with worthless sketches, and um, calculations and gibberish. On the whole, no one could make sense out of this. My mind has been wandering. I’ve been stuck. I don’t know what to do…”

 

“Oh.” Undyne noticed that this was pretty important to Alphys, and in her head, she tried to come up with some advice. Her hands were on her hips as she stared to the side- Undyne’s thinking position. “Look, even though you don’t have much to show, if you just try to explain what was going on in your head, I’m pretty sure things would connect for you and you could still make a really good presentation out of all this. I’ve seen what you’re capable of, Al! You could make something really EPIC out of bits and pieces of nothing! I promise it.”

 

“You really think I could?”

 

“Heck yeah! Just try to clear your head, be positive, and it’ll work out!”

 

“Thanks for that, Undyne. I… I needed that.”

 

“No prob.” Undyne opened a few cabinets and began to make her breakfast- a hearty meal of eggs and sausage.  “What are you gonna have Al?”

 

“Oh, umm… pass me some peanut butter and jelly. And the Jasmine tea please.”

   

The two girls began to make their morning breakfast, then they settled down to eat and talked about last night’s movie again. It wasn’t long until they were finished and Undyne had to head out. She told Alphys to keep it up and said that she would “rock the house” today. Alphys chuckled as Undyne gathered her belongings, leaving the nerd to practice her scientific presentation.

 

* * *

 

 

It was the end of the day and the two girls decided to meet at Undyne’s house. It was cozier than the lab, and actually had beds and kitchens. Undyne was waiting on the couch for Alphys to return from her meeting. The TV was silent, the radio wasn’t playing, and the living room was as quiet as ever. Undyne stared down at the ground; all her thoughts were stirring in her head. She looked at her hands and sighed heavily, putting her face into them.

 

The doorknob rattled and Undyne quickly looked up. She put on a smile when she realized it was Alphys at the door. The Royal Guard was so excited to hear about her day.

 

However, that smile quickly faded when she saw the nerd’s expression. It was a face of complete anguish and tiredness. Alphys sluggishly hung up her lab coat and dropped her box of supplies. Undyne knew something terrible happened at her meeting.

 

Alphys murmured an almost incoherent “I hate myself,” but Undyne could still hear it. She immediately jumped up and helped Alphys with her items.

 

“Is everything alright??” she asked the Scientist.

 

There was a long pause. Alphys looked down to her feet for a few seconds, her eyes became watery beneath her glasses, and she looked back up at Undyne.

 

“No! Nothing fine! I...I...I went to the presentation, and I thought I had everything sorted out, but when I looked at the faces of all the members of the Royal Science Committee, I…. fr-froze up... Everyone looked so uninterested and I hadn’t even st-STARED yet! The whole time I just kept stuttering, and mumbling, and-and none of my words came out, and then they all started asking questions, and I couldn’t answer them correctly, and then when it ended they kept CRITICIZING me and-” More and more tears were forming in the corner of Alphy’s eyes

 

“Woah woah woah. Slow down Al. Um… why don’t you, come sit down on the couch.” Undyne was not ready to tackle something like this.   


She guided Alphys towards the sofa and sat down next to her. “Just… take deep breaths... So, what did they say?” Undyne could see the nerd already choking up. “Uh, n-nevermind. I can see this is bothering you, so I won’t talk about it anymore.”

 

There was an awkward pause after that. Alphys still looked really depressed and all Undyne could do was take a long, quiet sigh.  

 

It took a while for the Royal Guard to muster up the courage to speak again. All of the sudden, she was at a loss for words. “I’m really sorry to hear about this Al. I’m sure the scientists didn’t mean to offend you or anything. Maybe they were just tired or something? Either way, you’re amazing at what you do...Maybe you should have kept up the courage you had when I last saw you, even if everyone _was_ staring at you…”

 

Alphys looked weirdly at her girlfriend. This wasn’t the advise she was expecting from her. Something felt off.

 

“Um… thanks.” The nerd sniffled. “Maybe I was… freaking out too much. _Like I always do._ ” That last part was whispered to herself, but again, Undyne could understand what she said. It’s a special hearing ability for close relationships like these.

 

However, she didn’t react to those words. Instead, Undyne glanced at Alphys when she got off the couch and stared back at her own feet. _I.. don’t know what to say. What am I supposed to say?? Alphys looks really hurt, but I can’t think of anything to cheer her up. What is up with me today…_

 

    Alphys looked out the window in thought, before she decided to request something. “I… I don’t know if I want to do anything tonight. I’m really tired. Is it… is it okay if I just sleep here tonight?”

 

    Undyne was a little surprised by this request, this was usually the perfect time for the girls to chill. But, knowing how both of them felt tonight, the Royal Guard responded with a half smile.

  
    “Sure, that’s fine. Get some rest, Al. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

    “Night.” Alphys grabbed a blanket and headed in the back room.

   

    After Undyne watched her close the door, she laid down on the sofa. She took one of the pillows and placed it under her head, looking up at the ceiling for a few seconds. Then she grabbed the remote, turned on the news channel, and closed her eyes.

 

* * *

 

    Undyne woke up to some noises in the kitchen. A teapot was whistling, and there was movement in the cabinets. She slowly reached over to grab the remote and turn up the volume. After Undyne sat up and rubbed her eyes, she looked over at Alphys.

 

The nerd was making green tea, but she didn’t seem to be making any breakfast yet. She looked really tired, and Undyne could see that Alphys did not have her normal morning charisma. She must be still upset about what happened yesterday.

    “Hey!” greeted Undyne. “Good morning. What you gonna make for breakfast?”

 

    “I’m- um, I’m not hungry.” Alphys sat at the kitchen table and mixed the already completed tea with her spoon.

 

    Alphys always ate breakfast, so when Undyne saw she was not eating this morning, it threw off her normal energetic self. The Royal Guard suddenly put on a very serious face and sat in the chair across from her girlfriend.

 

    “Alphys, are you- are you still upset about yesterday’s meeting?”

   

    “A little…” she meekly replied.

 

    “Oh gosh. Look, if you need to talk it out, I’m still here for you.” Undyne placed her hand on top of Alphys’ and looked her in the eyes.

 

    “Actually, I do… have a question to ask.”

   

    “Shoot.”

   

    “...Last night, I was actually pretty worried about how _you_ were reacting to all this. Something just, didn’t feel right. You were giving me half-hearted advice and staring off into space. I could see you were thinking really hard. I just- didn’t know what for. I still don’t know. So, I want to ask… how are _you_ feeling, Undyne?”

 

    Of all the things that caught her off guard so far, this was something Undyne did not expect. In her head, she was so worried about helping out Alphys, that she didn’t think about herself and what _she_ felt.

 

    For a few seconds, Undyne stared through Alphys. Then her eyes darted away in different directions, and she became very nervous. “I-I-I… I have to admit, I haven’t been feeling myself since yesterday. Something happened Alphys. And I didn’t feel like telling you about it because… because… I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t want you to worry about it… or something.”

 

    “What? Wh- what happened?!”

 

    Undyne took a deep breath, then decided it was necessary to get this off her chest. “Yesterday, I went to New Home for my morning training, right? I was actually pretty hyped to go. I hadn’t seen Asgore in a while, and I felt that I needed to stretch my limbs and get some REAL practice going- unlike what I do in the mornings at Waterfall. I walked into the Judgement Hall, my blood _boiling_ for a good par, and there was Asgore over there greeting me with his big smile. I gave him a good pat on the back, we exchanged a few words, and I asked if we could have a par here, like old times.”

 

    Alphys intently listened to her girlfriend's story as she wondered when the turning point would come, since it started off so nicely. The entire time the Scientist held her teacup in her hand without taking a sip.

 

    Undyne continued, “He agreed, and luckily I came prepared with my armor, spears, shields, and healing items. I handed him a shield and without words… the par began. It was my turn first because I requested the fight, and I started with my normal arrow parry. But… I… I couldn’t keep the arrows up with my magic. Some would fall to the ground, or would launch at slow speeds. I thought it was just the lack of energy from staying up all night, and next thing you know, it was time for me to defend Asgore’s attacks.

   

Now you know Al, I’m _excellent_ at defending. I had my shield out for this attack, and I was ready to dodge all those fireballs...They came… and… I don’t know if I wasn’t paying attention or something, but they must’ve _all_ hit me. It didn’t even look that complicated! But god, I must’ve been hit by every single one. I was on the floor after that, holding on to my stomach. Asgore was about to go over there to help me, but I waved him off and got up…. Let’s just say… the whole par did not work out as planned. I literally had no energy, my magic was so off, and I’m pretty sure Asgore went easy on me, but I still messed up! I told him goodbye at the end, but I went back home completely angry. I had no idea what was wrong with me Al, but I kept criticizing myself. I kept saying my mind wasn’t focused, or my magic was broken, or… or… I just gave up.”

 

    Alphys couldn’t say a word after that, but she watched as Undyne placed her head and hands on the table, fists closed.

 

    “Wow… I… can’t believe this.” Alphys responded in surprise. “You’re like, the strongest monster I know, I- I had no idea you could be like this… Almost… makes me feel better, I guess… I mean- n-not about you being hurt! Just, that I’m not the only one with problems. Even the Royal Guard isn’t perfect, haha…. Wait, is- is your magic actually broken or something? Maybe, maybe I should check on it? Maybe your ill-”

 

“Hold up Al.” her girlfriend responded. “I, I have a feeling I’m doing better. Look.”

 

Undyne stood up from the table. When she spread out her arms, a circle of arrows suddenly appeared around her. They disappeared just as quickly when she put her arms at her side.

 

“My eye is also glowing like normal. I tried it out yesterday, but… I couldn’t keep it up for long.” A ray of light appeared from behind her patched eye and danced around Alphys. “I don’t know what happened that day, but when I woke up this morning, I sorta felt better. Could’ve been weak magic, but I also could have been really tired.”

 

The nerd got up to observe her. “That’s really gr-great to know, Undyne. I’m, really sorry to hear about what happened. But, that honestly made me feel better. Maybe I just needed to know I wasn’t the only one who had a bad day.” Alphys smiled to herself.

 

“You know what, if you weren’t worried about me this morning, I wouldn’t have gotten that off my chest. And I needed to. So, thanks for that.”

 

“You’re, you’re welcome Undyne. It’s only natural for me to worry about you.”

 

“Same to you.”

 

They both gave each other a warm smile and reached out for a hug. The girls could feel their problems instantly disappear in the embrace.

 

Undyne pulled herself out of the hug and held Alphys’ shoulders.

 

“So.. you still hungry?”

 

“Yeah! I, I think I am.”

 

“Great! There should still be some eggs in the fridge, and we could make an omelet!

 

“Sounds good to me! Let’s get started!”

 

Undyne and Alphys together turned to the stove and worked at cooking the eggs and bacon while the other chopped the vegetables. They knew the rest of the day would work out perfectly, a day to themselves.

* * *

 


End file.
